May 09--Bloomington is not the center of the universe in terms of tourism.

We don't have the Grand Canyon. The best we can do for ocean is Lake Monroe, nice but no match for the sandy beaches and fresh seafood places that line all the coasts.

We don't have Broadway or casinos or space needles, or even very tall buildings to gawk at.

Still, the leisure and hospitality industry employs about 8,800 people in the greater Bloomington area, which in this particular measure by the Indiana Business Research Center at IU includes Brown and Owen counties. Almost 8,000 of those jobs are in Monroe County.

Those numbers are right up there with manufacturing at 9,100 jobs, so this is not a small enterprise.

True, we're not New York or the Gulf Coast. No casinos glitter here (although there is one just down the road). But we have IU. And despite the fact it's not an ocean, we have the lake. We have a vibrant and creative downtown and green hills all around us.

As important, we have a city full of vibrant, welcoming people sophisticated enough to appreciate opera and art, while also having a taste for biscuits and gravy.

According to Visit Bloomington, our convention and visitor people, a million tourists a year drop in on us because they find some combination of the above very appealing.

They spend close to $300 million on those visits.

We note that fact to remind ourselves that even without a giant canyon or an ocean just out the back door, people want to come here and those people fuel our economy. That's something to remember this week, designated as National Travel and Tourism Week.

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